Business category, Page 178
China cuts economic growth goal as it tries to reverse slump
China on Saturday cut its annual economic growth target to its lowest level in decades as Beijing struggles to reverse a slump at a time when Russia’s war on Ukraine is pushing up oil prices and roiling the global economy. The ruling Communist Party will aim for growth of “around...
Microsoft closes on $16 billion acquisition of Nuance
Microsoft has closed on its approximately $16 billion acquisition of speech recognition company Nuance. The deal, which was announced last year, helps Microsoft Corp. get more entrenched into hospitals and the health care industry through Nuance’s widely used medical dictation and transcription tools. The acquisition is Microsoft’s second-largest after its...
Taco Bell in Allegheny Township on schedule to open this month
Construction continues on a Taco Bell in Allegheny Township, expected to open this month at intersection of Hyde Park Road at Route 56. Kevin Kupniewsk, senior director of operations for Charter Foods/Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silvers and Pizza Hut, confirmed this week that the project is on schedule. An...
Stocks tumble as war overshadows ‘fantastic’ U.S. jobs data
Stocks around the world racked up more losses Friday, as even a gangbusters report on the U.S. jobs market can’t pull Wall Street’s focus off its worries about the war in Ukraine. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and posted its third weekly loss in the last four. The Dow Jones...
Report: American whiskey exports starting to rebound
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — American whiskey exports, battered by tariffs and the covid-19 pandemic, started rebounding in 2021, but distillers have more ground to make up to fully recover, an industry group said. Exports of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey reached $975 million in 2021, up 15% from the prior...
Gasoline nears historic high in Western Pa., topping $4 per gallon in some places
Gasoline now costs more than $4 per gallon at some local stations, thanks to an overnight price spike of about 13 cents per gallon. The abrupt jump, after weeks of steady price increases, is something not usually seen, even in times of economic uncertainty. “That’s very drastic and a direct...
Strong job growth points to covid’s fading grip on economy
In a buoyant sign for the U.S. economy, businesses stepped up their hiring last month as omicron faded and more Americans ventured out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels despite surging inflation. Employers added a robust 678,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly total since July, the Labor Department...
Russia’s war spurs corporate exodus, exposes business risks
LONDON — Car factories idled, beer stopped flowing, furniture and fashion orders ceased, and energy companies cut their pipelines. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown business plans into disarray and forced a growing number of the world’s best known brands — from Apple to Mercedes-Benz and BP — to pull...
Stocks end another bumpy day lower and crude oil prices ease
NEW YORK — Stocks fell and oil prices eased back Thursday after another bumpy day of trading on Wall Street as markets remained anxious about the broader impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Major indexes veered up and down for much of the day before a late-day slide pushed them...
Amazon to close all its bookstores in the U.S., United Kingdom
NEW YORK — Amazon is confirming it’s closing all of its bookstores as well as its 4-star shops and pop up locations as the online behemoth reworks its physical footprint. The Seattle-based company said Wednesday that the move, which affects 66 stores in the U.S. and two in the United...
Wall Street roars back to rally mode, even as oil rises anew
NEW YORK — Wall Street took another sharp swing Wednesday, this time back to rally mode, as stocks and Treasury yields rose even as U.S. crude oil prices climbed to the highest level in more than a decade. The S&P 500 rose 1.9%, recouping its losses from earlier in the...
Millennial Money: Viral savings challenges that pay off
Among the different ways to trick yourself into saving, money-saving challenges are some of the most engaging. They can help you feel connected to finances by requiring frequent check-ins and debunking feelings of inadequacy when it comes to saving. For Cristina Brown, a self-described savings-challenge designer and founder of the...
Powell tells Congress that Fed will raise rates this month
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made clear Wednesday that the Fed will begin raising interest rates this month in a high-stakes effort to restrain surging inflation. In prepared testimony he will deliver to a congressional committee, Powell cautions that the financial consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are...
Ford splits EV, internal combustion into separate units
NEW YORK — Ford said that it will run its electric vehicle and internal combustion divisions as two separate businesses, attempting to accelerate its adaptation of new technology. The automaker said Wednesday that its plan includes two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses — Ford Blue focusing on traditional combustion...
Economic dangers from Russia’s invasion ripple across globe
WASHINGTON — Moscow’s war on Ukraine and the ferocious financial backlash it has unleashed are not only inflicting an economic catastrophe on President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The repercussions are also menacing the global economy, shaking financial markets and making life more perilous for everyone from Uzbek migrant workers to European...
Nations agree to release 60 million barrels of oil amid war
FRANKFURT, Germany — All 31 countries that are members of the International Energy Agency have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves “to send a strong message to oil markets” that there will be “no shortfall in supplies” as a result of Russia’s invasion of...
Oil prices surge above $100 a barrel as war on Ukraine rages
NEW YORK — Oil prices soared Tuesday and investors shifted more money into ultra-safe U.S. government bonds as Russia stepped up its war on Ukraine. Stocks fell following a volatile day for major indexes as investors tried to measure how the conflict will impact the global economy. The S&P 500...
Coors Light says it will eliminate 6-pack plastic rings by end of the year
Molson Coors Beverage Co. said it will make an $85 million investment to transition away from plastic rings for its beverage packaging. Coors Light said it will begin the transition “to fully recyclable and sustainably sourced cardboard-wrap carriers later this year.” Molson Coors said it “will upgrade its packaging machinery,...
Come join my Derby of Economic Forecasting Talent
They never see it coming. By “they,” I mean almost everyone. By “it,” I mean a surprise in the economy. As evidence, consider my annual Derby of Economic Forecasting Talent (DEFT), which has just concluded its 19th year. Inflation in 2021 heated up to 7%. Not a single one of...
Swings return to Wall Street, oil up after Russia sanctions
NEW YORK — Markets quivered Monday amid worries about how high oil prices will go and how badly the global economy will get hit after the United States and allies upped the financial pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Stocks swung up and down several times, leaving the...
Target seeks to entice workers with pay of up to $24 an hour
NEW YORK — Workers at Target stores and distribution centers in places like New York, where competition for finding and hiring staff is the fiercest, could see starting wages as high as $24 an hour this year. The Minneapolis-based discount retailer said Monday that it will adopt minimum wages that...
Toyota’s Japan production halted over suspected cyberattack
TOKYO — Toyota is suspending production at all 28 lines of its 14 plants in Japan starting Tuesday, because of a “system malfunction” that a domestic supplier suspects is a cyberattack. Kojima Industries Corp., based in Toyota city in central Japan, said Monday the problem could be a cyberattack as...
Ruble plummets as sanctions bite, sending Russians to banks
MOSCOW — Ordinary Russians faced the prospect of higher prices and crimped foreign travel as Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine sent the ruble plummeting, leading uneasy people to line up at banks and ATMs on Monday in a country that has seen more than one currency disaster in...
John Dorfman: Why I think George Soros is wrong about Rivian
George Soros recently bought shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN). I think he’s wrong. Shares in Rivian, an electric-truck startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., trade for 6,637 times the company’s revenue for the past four quarters. That’s the kind of multiple you see when investors mentally...
BP exiting stake in Russian oil and gas company Rosneft
BP said Sunday it is exiting its share in Rosneft, a state-controlled Russian oil and gas company, in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. BP has held a 19.75% stake in Rosneft since 2013. That stake is currently valued at $14 billion. London-based BP also said its CEO, Bernard Looney,...
